Open Up the City and Write the Silk Road Epic

Opening up is the only way for prosperity and development. As the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, during the construction of the "Belt and Road", Shaanxi has become the forefront in China's opening to the west, attracting the world attention again, but also reflected the more and more important strategic position. Recent years, Shaanxi has grasped the opportunity and made breakthrough, a new Shaanxi with opening and cooperation, integrating with China and Western countries, is now showing a good momentum of dynamic.

Cooperation starting with exchange needs a platform. Shaanxi speeds up the practical and mutual benefit cooperation platform from government dialogue, trade cooperation, multicultural exchanges, etc. Those high profile forums and exhibitions like Euro-Asia Economic Forum, Silk Road International Forum, Yangling Agriculture High-Tech Forum have become the focus that Shaanxi attracts government and business at home and abroad gathering.

Since the year 2005, the Euro-Asia Economic Forum that has settled the permanent site in Xi'an has been successfully held for six sessions. Euro-Asia Economic Forum has gradually upgraded to a national key support mechanism foreign forum by a local oriented international conference, creating a successful case of local government building a new opening up platform coming from below in China. As the opening international forum facing to "Belt and Road", Euro-Asia Economic Forum has become an important platform that the countries along the Road passing the voice to the world. 2015 Euro-Asia Economic Forum held more than 50 sessions of 28 conference activities, which made an important pushing role in expanding the exchanges and communications between China and Eurasian countries and speeding up the opening up of Shaanxi and the construction of Xi'an International metropolis.

At the 2016 Silk Road International Expo & the 20th Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China (ITFCEW), principals of 41 associations from 32 countries/regions alongside the OBOR attended the Silk Road International Business Association (Xi’an) Roundtable, and those countries supported the signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Initiated the Establishment of the Silk Road Business Council, which specifies the contact office should be set up in Xi'an.

The Silk Expo provides a wider international exchange and cooperation platform for those countries and regions along the Silk Road, becoming an important window for China even Shaanxi opening to the west and a significant bridge of other countries entering Chinese market, also it has become a cooperation platform for pushing the innovation, coordination, green, open and sharing development, one of the most influential international brand fairs in the deep integration between countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" and other regions in China.

A few days ago, the first 4 main consulates of Xi'an Consulate Area in Xi'an Chanba ecological zone were finished. The project includes embassy and dormitory area, foreign affair area, Silk Road Business Area three functional areas, which may hold 25 countries consulates and foreign affair buildings and other facilities. Shaanxi is speeding up the construction of Xi'an consulates area, striving to build Xi'an consulates, trade representative offices and agencies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and other countries along the Silk Road, and promoting Xi'an set up offices in the important node cities along the Silk Road. In the future, Xi'an consulates area will take the important mission of building Shaanxi's opening up platform and constructing new height of inland opening up.

As the important intermediate point of connecting the east and the west, Shaanxi is speeding up in cultural exchanges. Shaanxi has established 79 pairs of friendly cities with 32 countries in the world, the Silk Road International Arts Festival, the Silk Road International Film Festival, the Silk Road International Tourism Fair were held successfully, the range and fields of exchanging and cooperating are spreading.

Build Three-Dimensional Transportation "Land, Air and Digital" Make the Opening Up Walking on the Fast Track

Shaanxi as the junction of the East and the West, it is not only the place of global industry transferring, also the transportation hub of communicating inland and Eurasian Continental Bridge with the Maritime Silk Route. Recent years, Shaanxi has sped up the construction of highways, railways and airport, striving to creating the three-dimensional transportation hub of connecting seas and rivers, improving the transportation and radiation ability of Shaanxi section of Eurasian Continental Bridge.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan, Shaanxi transportation investment hit a new high, finished a investment up to 400 billion yuan in five years, with newly built highway 1700km, the total mileage more than 5000km, the railway mileage of 600km. And the next, the railway construction will increase the mileage construction significantly, improve the comprehensive service ability, and try to make Xi'an an out point of "coming from west and do to the east" and convergent point of "connecting to the east and go to west”.

On November 28, 2013, "Chang'an" International Freight Train departed in Xi'an International Logistic Park, heading to Kazakhstan. As at June 15, "Chang'an" has ran 201 trains accumulated, 60 trains in 2016, carrying 384 thousand tons goods accumulated, which is worthy of 38.1 billion dollars. The goods destination is distributed in Kazakhstan and other central Asian countries 44 cities and locations, laid the foundation for Shaanxi creating the railway transportation to Europe and Asia and building the biggest land international transshipment hub port in Silk Road Economic Belt.

The national code "61900100" and international code "CNXAG" of "Xi'an Logistic Park" was approved officially in 2014, becoming the first inland port awarded these two codes, "Xi'an Logistic Park" is participating in the global economic trade circulation as port of departure and port of destination. Through the establishment of comprehensive free trade zone, highway and railway hub, broadened the import and export of goods inland channel, realized the port shift, handle the case in place, ocean-rail transportation, air transportation.

In the air, lines connecting to the Silk Road have been set up. During the "12th Five-Year" period, Xi'an - Xianyang International Airport international shipping routes and routes increased to 30 and 36 lines, passenger throughput reached to 1.7 million, annual growth of more than 40%, which has become an important force of boosting Shaanxi even the northwest region areas opening up and economic development.

In December 2015, Shaanxi Xi'an - Xianyang Bonded Logistic Centre passed the formal acceptance. Relying on Xi'an - Xianyang International Airport and Xi'an -Xianyang Bonded Logistics Center, Shaanxi is promoting the construction of the Silk Road freight route network, and making the air freight leading Shaanxi's opening development, an important engine for participating in the global economy. By 2025, Xi'an national Aviation City Experimental Area that taking Kong Gang New City as platform will be built completely, 280 airlines network connecting more than 160 cities at home and abroad, aviation passenger and goods throughput will reach to 6.7 million people and 700 thousand tons.

In addition, since March 2014, General Administration of Customs approved Xi'an to conduct cross-border trade e-commerce service pilots, relying on the policy advantages of the Xi'an national cross-border trade e-commerce service pilots and Xi'an Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Xi'an International Logistic Park established a e-commerce platform of "foreign goods dock". From January to May in 2016, the platform exported 76.4 thousand invoices, and the goods were worthy of 603.5 thousand dollars, imported 91.3 thousand invoices, and the goods were worthy of 46.46 million dollars. Over the past two years, the cross-border e-commerce enterprises gathered in the International Logistic Park quickly, improving the export amount of the Xi'an cross-border e-commerce significantly, and the cross-border e-commerce has become an important component of Shaanxi foreign trade and the new engine of economic growth.

The airport port channel aiming to the Eurasian countries directly, the inland port channel taking "Chang'an" freight trains as the carrier, the information port channel taking cross-border e-commerce as a breakthrough were built successfully, making Shaanxi the three-dimensional transportation of "Air and Land roads network all connected" more perfect and the frame of "Solid Silk Road" formed.

With the smooth progress of important node construction of "Belt and Road Initiative", the economic and trade exchanges of Shaanxi and China as well as the Central Asian countries and the world enters the new stage of pragmatic cooperation.

During the 2016 Silk Expo & 20th Western China International Fair, there were totally 105 thousand merchants coming from China's eastern, middle and western area as well as the countries and regions along "Belt and Road" attended the Fair, 6,200 enterprises attended the Fair, 23 thousand types of featured products and more than 540 thousand audience. It attracted 87 countries in the world and almost 1800 foreign guests and merchants present. The Silk Road International Pavilion set up 28 national pavilions, totally 37 countries governmental departments and business associations coming from Asia, Europe, Africa, the America and Oceania organized more than 300 enterprises attending the exhibition.

The Shaanxi delegation of 2016 Silk Expo & Western China International Fair totally signed a total contract investment of 11.708 billion US dollars of foreign projects; signed a total contract investment amount of 681.053 billion US dollars of China joint projects; also signed a trade contract amount of 1.130 billion US dollars of high-tech achievements with a significant effectiveness.

The single largest foreign investment in high-tech project investment since China's reform and opening up - Samsung Semiconductor project is successfully settled in Xi'an High Tech Zone. High end memory chips, packaging testing, Samsung new power batteries and other projects have been completed and put into operation, and drove a large number of relevant enterprises coming to Shaanxi for investment and development. 112 enterprises of the world top 500 are settled in Shaanxi Province.

During the "12th Five-Year Plan", Shaanxi achieved an export and import amount of 89,040 million dollars accumulated, increased by 2.2 times compared with the "11th Five-Year". From January to April in 2016, the total export and import amount of Shaanxi is 63,967 million dollars, with year-on-year growth of 12.2%. As at May 5 in 2016, the newly built Shaanxi Foreign investment enterprises were 26, total investment of Chinese agreement of 365 million dollars, with 5.5 times year-on-year growth; the actual investment was of 187 million dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 67.3%.